The Sailor and His Cat
by NeverBeenToChina
Summary: When Yuki demands a bedtime story, Kiyoteru weaves the tail of Oliver the sailor boy, the cat he met in Japan, and the legend of their love. Longish oneshot, OliverxIroha


**Because there isn't enough Olli-roha out there. :3**

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><p>"Yuki, it's time for bed."<p>

"But I'm not tired, not even a little bit!" Yuki whined.

"Come on, you need your sleep before your recital tomorrow." Kiyoteru sighed.

"Just one more show, please-y please with sugar on top!" she begged.

"No. Yuki, I don't have the energy for this,"

"It's okay, honey, I got it," Meiko said as she walked into the room. In one motion she stooped down, scooped up Yuki, and carried her upstairs while she screamed.

"But Mooommyyyyyy!"

Once she was upstairs, Yuki seemed to be resigned to her fate, and rushed through her bedtime routines.

"Daddy, daddy, tell me story!" Yuki said as she climbed into her bed and snuggled a stuffed pink octopus. "But not a sad one like the one you told me last night about the evil princess and the servant that was also her twin. I want a story with a happy ending!"

"Okay, kiddo." Kiyoteru laughed and ruffled Yuki's hair. And he began his story.

"Once there was a boy named Oliver. He lived on a ship captained by his father, Leon de Crypton. He sailed all around the world on that ship, _the Sweet Ann_, and visited every country. The story begins when _the Sweet Ann_ stopped in Japan…"

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><p>It was a sunny day, so Oliver left the ship to explore. On one busy street he met a girl with aqua hair and eyes singing in behind a hat full of change, who gave him a kiss on the cheek when he dropped in a few coins. In an alleyway he met two twins with sunlight hair and icy eyes who played tricks on him and took half his money. In a concrete square an inventor with red goggles was showing off her robots, a girl with cherry red hair and a boy with one green eye and one blue. Oliver was about to go talk to a samurai with purple hair, when he saw a little coral-colored kitten out of the corner of his eye. When the he walked, the cat walked. When he stopped, the cat stopped.<p>

"That's Iroha, the stray of the docks," said the samurai's wife, a tall woman with long pink hair.

"Iroha?" Oliver tested out the name. In response Iroha nuzzled her head against his bandaged ankle. Oliver smiled.

"Oliver! It's time to cast off!" called one of the ship's crew members, who everyone called 'Big Al'.

"Coming!" Oliver yelled back, and ran back towards the dock. Iroha followed him. But just as he and the cat were about to get on the ship, his mother started yelling at him.

"Oliver, you can't bring that filthy flea bag on the ship! Get rid of it at once!"

Leon walked up to his wife and put a hang on her shoulder. "Now, now, Lola, maybe the cat could be useful." Iroha mewled.

"She could be a mouser!" Oliver suggested enthusiastically. As if to prove herself, Iroha went out and caught a mouse within a minute. The boy and the cat both looked up at his mother with big pleading eyes.

Lola gave a disapproving look, then sighed and spat, "Fine." Oliver grinned and hugged her.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" he shouted, then ran off with his new friend. "Come on, Iroha, I'll show you around the ship!"

Everyone loved Iroha. She would sit and watch the ship's entertainers, Prima and Tonio when they practiced. She kept the cook, Sonika, company when she prepared dinner. She stared curiously at Leon's maps while he navigated, and would sit on Big Al's shoulder while he did work. Even Lola warmed up to her over time, and would let Iroha sit with her at tea time. But of everyone on the ship, she was closest to Oliver. Every time the ship stopped, the two would go explore the town together, and sometimes they would just sit in the crow's nest together.

After Iroha had lived on the ship for a few years, they stopped in Korea. As always, Oliver and Iroha left the ship together to look around. They tried lots of exotic foods and watched a puppet show in the street, then went for a walk in a park. That's where they met her. She had an abundance of light blonde hair, pale, soft skin, and wore a long flowing dress. She seemed to be meditating, for she had her eyes closed. Oliver opened his mouth to say something, but the girl spoke first.

"Hello, Oliver and Iroha."

Oliver's one eye widened. "H-how did you know our names?"

"I'm Seeu the enchantress. I know everything. And I can grant wishes." She said coolly.

"Could I make a wish?" Oliver's face lit up.

"Yes I can. But only if it's something you truly want."

Oliver thought. He looked down to the kitten beside him. _I wish Iroha could be a girl._

"Your wish is my command." Seeu's hands began to glow pale blue and strings of magic wrapped themselves around the cat, who meowed in surprise. She was enveloped in a ball of light that grew until it was twice Oliver's height, and then burst open, letting a girl fall. Oliver rushed forward and caught her. She had hair down to her ankles that was the same color as her fur had been, a light coral pink, and big dandelion-colored eyes. She seemed to be asleep, but then her eyes fluttered open.

"What happened?" she asked. Her voice was lower than Oliver would have expected, but it was beautiful.

He set her down, but she wobbled, not used to standing on two legs, and grabbed him for support. "Seeu here turned you into a girl!" he said, gesturing to the enchantress, but she had disappeared.

"Oliver! Iroha! We're casting off!" Big Al yelled.

"We're coming!" Oliver shouted back. He took Iroha's hand and began to run, but she tripped.

"Oliver, I can't even stand, much less run." She said.

"Then get on my back!" After a moment of hesitation, she did so, and he carried her all the way to the ship.

"Oliver, who is that? Where's Iroha?" Prima asked.

Oliver smiled. "This _is_ Iroha. An enchantress named Seeu turned her into a girl!"

"Really? That's so cool!" Sonika said.

"It's nice to be able to finally talk to you all," Iroha said politely and bowed.

Iroha quickly got the hang of standing, walking, running and even swimming and climbing with two legs. Once she was a human she got to know everyone better, especially Oliver. They became very good friends, and after a few years, Oliver realized that it might be more than that. He loved everything about her – the way her eyes sparkled when she got excited, and how she could always make him laugh, and the little mewl she would let out when she was happy. One day when they were sitting in the crow's nest, the way her hair shone in the setting sunlight made Oliver suddenly blurt it out.

"Iroha, I think I love you," he said quietly.

Iroha smiled. "I think I love you too." There was a pause. "Well, kiss me then!" she pouted. And he did.

The next two years were a blur. The two were practically inseparable, spending every waking second together, and even some sleeping seconds too.** (A/N: No you perv they just got all cuddly watching the sunset and fell asleep.)** A year after that first day Oliver proposed, and of course Iroha said yes. Sonika was to be the maid of honor, Big Al would be the best man, Tonio and Prima were to sing Iroha down the aisle, walked by Lola, and Leon, as a captain, would be the one to marry them. Everyone was excited and busy with preparations.

One day they docked in Spain to look for a wedding dress for Iroha, but after looking everywhere they had found nothing that suited her. They went to check one last shop, but as they were walking, Iroha got kidnapped into an alleyway. There, a woman with stiff black hair and puffy lips stared at her face. Behind her was a man with a very creepy stare.

"She'll do nicely." Said the man.

"You're probably wondering who we are." The woman said. "My name is Clara, and I'm a witch. Not the good kind," She smirked. "This is my brother Bruno."

"What do you want with me?" Iroha asked, terror in her eyes.

"You see, girl," Bruno spoke in a deep voice, "my sister and I are horribly ugly. So my sister will cast a spell on you that will steal all your beauty and transfer it to us."

"You don't understand, I'm getting married soon!" Iroha pleaded.

"Well then, if you're lucky, maybe he'll still you love you when you're ugly and disfigured like us!" Clara cackled.

"Iroha! Iroha, where did you go?" Oliver called.

"Oliver! Help me, I've been – mff!" Iroha yelled, but Bruno gagged her and the two siblings carried Iroha away.

"Iroha, where are you?" Oliver asked, but there was no reply. He ran back to the ship.

"I think Iroha's been kidnapped!" Immediately everyone left to go look for her.

Meanwhile, Iroha was bound and gagged in a dark, dank room. Clara stood before her, Bruno watching through a window. Clara's eyes and hands began to glow green and she let out a high-pitched wail. Thick ropes of magic dove at Iroha and seemed to scoop away her beauty. Bit by bit her hair became tangled and its color faded, and her skin became wrinkled and blemished. Her perfect button nose tripled in size and her eyes became beady and far apart. At the same time, Clara and Bruno seemed to get more attractive. Bruno's strange, creepy glare disappeared and was replaced by a handsome, somewhat flirtatious stare. Clara's hair became softer and lighter, and her lips shrunk to a normal size. In a word, they were stunning.

The light faded and Clara collapsed. Bruno ran in to help her up.

"D-did it work?" she asked faintly.

"Yes, it worked! Clara, we're beautiful!" Bruno exclaimed as Clara got to her feet.

"Thank you, dear," Clara sneered at the now disfigured Iroha. Bruno went over and undid the ropes around the girl's body and pulled off the gag.

"You shouldn't bother going back to your fiancée. He won't love you anymore." Bruno laughed. As soon as she was free she ran for the door, tears streaming from her eyes.

Back on the ship, a somber atmosphere had been cast. No one had seen Iroha anywhere, and Oliver was losing hope. That's when Iroha finally arrived back at the ship.

"Oliver!" she yelled, as if she had been happier to see him than ever. But he only stared blankly.

"Do I know you?"

Iroha's heart broke. Maybe Bruno had been right.

"Oliver, it's me. It's Iroha!" she said desperately.

The blond man looked her up and down. "Liar! You can't be Iroha. You look nothing like her."

"That's because a witch – "

"A witch?" Oliver laughed. "Witches aren't real."

"What about Seeu, then?" Iroha asked.

"H-how could you know about that?" Oliver was taken aback. "If there's any witch here, it's you! Be gone from my father's ship!"

Iroha began to cry and ran away. As night fell, Oliver sat in the crow's nest alone, longing for Iroha. Meanwhile, Iroha had snuck aboard _the Sweet Ann_'s cargo hold, after having overheard that the next stop would be England. There seemed to be witches all around the world and she figured that maybe she could get some help there.

It took about a day for _the Sweet Ann_ to reach England. There Iroha got off the ship and began searching. Eventually she found a little psychic shop run by a fortuneteller by the name of Miriam.

Inside the shop it was dark, the windows having been covered by thick curtains, and smelled of incense. There was a little bubbling fountain and tinkling music playing, and a poster on the wall describing magical properties of different stones. A woman with long silvery hair stepped out from a side room.

"Hello there, Ms. Iroha," she said politely. "I'm Miriam."

Iroha was a little surprised at how… normal the woman looked. She had been expecting an exotic person draped in silks and fabrics from far away lands, but Miriam was dressed only in a white t-shirt and a long multicolored skirt.

"How can I help you?"

Iroha began her story from the beginning, the day she met Oliver in the town in Japan. Miriam sat and nodded the whole way through, but as soon as Iroha got to the part about Bruno and Clara her expression became sadder. When Iroha had finished her story, Miriam stood up and sighed, then took a red crystal ball from a cabinet and placed it in Iroha's lap.

"There are three types of magic: Transform, Lock, and Revert. When Seeu turned you human, she used Transform magic, which is characterized by blue. But when Clara stole your beauty, she used Lock, characterized by green. She took your beauty and at the same time, made it so that you could not be human and beautiful at the same time."

Iroha's expression became blank as the meaning of the fortuneteller's words sank in.

"The third type of magic, Revert, can bring a Transformed or Locked object back to its original form, but it must still obey any Locks put on it."

"So that means…"

"I can turn you back into a cat and you will have the same appearance you had, or you can remain as you are now."

Iroha started crying quietly. Miriam put a hand on her shoulder.

"I know it's an unfair fate, Iroha. But wouldn't you rather be with the one you love in any way you can?"

Iroha thought about this. Oliver wouldn't recognize her in this form, but perhaps if she was a cat again…

"Can you change me back?" she asked Miriam. The fortuneteller smiled.

"I thought that would be your decision. Place your hands on the crystal ball." Iroha did so, and Miriam also put on hand on the cold red glass. She closed her eyes and her hands glowed red, which transferred through the sphere to Iroha. She shrunk and sprouted a tail and ears. When the red light faded, the original feline Iroha sat on the chair.

Miriam gave a sad smile. "Farewell, Iroha."

The cat mewed and jumped off the chair and out the door. She wandered the streets until she found _the Sweet Ann_, which she boarded. No one noticed her, but she wasn't surprised. She meowed sadly, and Oliver whipped around at the sound.

"Iroha?"

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><p>"But Daddy! That story was sad, because they don't get married!" Yuki whined.<p>

"They still end up together in the end," Kiyoteru explained.

"It's still sad though." Yuki said as she started falling asleep. Kiyoteru smiled wistfully and kissed her forehead.

"One day you'll understand."

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><p><strong>My friend asked me for a bedtime story and when she wasn't impressed by the epic tale of how the smexi unicorn from Switzerland made two robots fall in love, I thought of this plot. I fleshed it out and added Kiyoteru, Yuki and Meiko in and voila!<strong>

**I feel as if I talked about the magic too much though. Also I think Bruno and Clara are actually quite pleasant but I needed someone with motivation to steal Iroha's beauty, and seeing as how their original designs (or at least, Bruno and his creepy stare, Clara's wasn't that bad) were not the best, it made sense. I also wanted all the witches to be non-JLoids. **

**Yes, all the Engloids live on a boat together, except Miriam the fortuneteller and Sweet Ann who is the ship itself (her name sounds like a ship doesn't it?) and yes I'm aware it would make more sense for Big Al and Sweet Ann to be Ollie's parents and that Leon is technically from Zero-G but 'Leon de Zero-G' sounds weird and Crypton helped develop him and Lola so it's fine.**

**And yes Piko and Miki are Gumi's two robots. I couldn't possibly leave them out!  
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**I feel like I write too much in the Author's Notes... do I? Anyway RnR and all that! :)  
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